Ab Snopes (Tommy Lee Jones) is a Southern tenant farmer whose unrelenting and violent nature proves to be his undoing in William Faulkner's Barn Burning. Snopes sets his employer's barn on fire when he thinks he's been treated unfairly. His son, Sarty, is horrified. Snopes escapes justice for lack of proof, but he and his family are told to move on. No sooner do they move than Snopes is offended by his new rich employer. Torn between trying to win his father's acceptance and his aversion to what his father will do, Sarty must make a decision and act quickly. Adapted by Academy Award winning screenwriter Horton Foote, Faulkner's complex world of class divisions and hostile family relationships comes to life through a boy's attempt to liberate himself from hatred and poverty.

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones

Ab Snopes

Carolyn Coates

Aunt

Henry Fonda

Self - Series Host (uncredited)

Diane Kagan

Mother

Shawn Whittington

Sarty Snopes

Michael Riney

Brother

Jennie Hughes

Lena Snopes

Julie Kaye Fanton

Donna Mae Snopes

Al Scott

Judge

Tom Royals

Harris

Jimmy Faulkner

Major DeSpain

Jean Pettigrew

Mrs. DeSpain

Thomas Hal Phillips

Justice

James Franks

Blacksmith

Simpson Hemphill

Stranger